Tag: Somerset House

Last year I was a member of the National Saturday Art and Design Club at Plymouth College of Art. We got to experiment with different media and artforms throughout the year, and take trips to local exhibitions as well as two trips to London for bigger NatSatClub shows featuring our work alongside work made by other groups.

It was really early so at the services I grabbed an iced coffee..

Our final trip to London was on the 17th of June. We met up really early to catch our coach just after 6am so we could get to the exhibition at Somerset House around 11am. It was really busy as hundreds of young people from NatSatClubs around the country had come to see their work on display. We were greeted and each given goody bags of art supplies, water, and snacks, and shown in to the first area where all the Masterclass work was on display. Our Masterclass was in making word drawings with Barnaby Barford.

Plymouth College of Art’s NatSatClub word drawings done in a Masterclass with Barnaby Barford

Next we went upstairs and had a look around the different clubs’ work. Plymouth sent in a lot of our work, and the pieces that were chosen for display were our beach glass jewellery, and our glass houses which we made in a class led by our Student Ambassador Ben Lintell.

Some of the members from Plymouth College of Art National Art & Design Saturday Club 2016-17 stood next to our display at Somerset House.

This video shows our glass houses lit from below with a torch to cast shadows on the white wall.

My glass house – the design is based on my home and it was etched by sandblasting

Our beach glass jewellery on displayMy piece of jewellery is the one in the centre. I found a piece of glass and transferred an image lighthouse onto the back of it, then encased it in silver.

We were all called into a large room filled with benches for a speech by the National Saturday Club founders, Lord and Lady Sorrell. Then we were called up one by one and received our Certificates and Yearbooks.

The Plymouth NatSatClub group holding our CertificatesA sneaky picture at the podium when noone was looking..

After the ceremony some of our group went to the National Portrait Gallery, but I stayed to look around the exhibition for a while longer. There was a huge amount of different types of work on display by young people from the many clubs, including zines, puppets, film, fashion and ceramics.

The first projects of our year were self portraits. We saw these on display on our previous visit to London but smaller versions had been put together into these huge wall displays.Self portraits from NatSatClub members

At the end of the day, we met up with the rest of the group to get back to the coach. Unfortunately, the coach had overheated (it was a really hot day!) and was broken down, leaving us stranded in London! Our group leaders brought us all water to drink and we took a walk around Covent Garden watching a clown and looking in the Moomin shop. The coach was fixed in an hour or so, and we headed back on the five hour journey home.

Me at Somerset House

I was sad that some of the work I was most proud of from our many projects wasn’t put on display, but I hope to be able to put photos up of those pieces here soon, and I did have a really good day. It was really amazing seeing so much work from young artists all in one place and I was really inspired by all that I saw. I would recommend joining the group to anyone aged from 14 to 16 who likes art and really wants to try different things.

Below are some photos of work from National Saturday Clubs all around the country. I have included lots here so that people who didn’t get to go on the trip can still enjoy some of the work we saw.

There was a “We Want To Be Heard” banner above the exhibitionWork from Cornwall CollegeWork from Cornwall CollegeWork from Cornwall CollegeWork from Cornwall CollegeWork from Cornwall CollegeZines from Kingston University, LondonWork from Cleveland College of Art and DesignWork from Cleveland College of Art and DesignWork from Cleveland College of Art and DesignWork from University of West LondonWork from University of West LondonWork from University of West LondonWork from University of West LondonWork from Standpoint (a collaborative Masterclass between Ravensbourne and Greater Brighton Metropolitan College)Work from Cove ParkWork from RavensbourneWork from RavensbourneWork from RavensbourneWork from RavensbourneWork from Bradford School of ArtWork from Nottingham Trent UniversityWork from Highbury CollegeWork from Highbury College

Work from Havering College of Further & Higher Education

Work from University of HuddersfieldWork from Coleg Sir GârWork from Bolton School of the ArtsWork from Bolton School of the ArtsWork from Banbury and Bicester CollegeWork from Banbury and Bicester CollegeWork from Banbury and Bicester CollegeWork from Greater Brighton Metropolitan CollegeWork from Cambridge School of Art

Work from Cambridge School of ArtWork from Cambridge School of ArtWork from East Coast College and Time and Tide MuseumWork from GoldsmithsA frame from an animation by University of Westminster NatSatClubZines by University of the Arts LondonWork by University of the Arts LondonWork by University of the Arts LondonWork by University of the Arts LondonZines by University of the Arts LondonWork by University of the Arts LondonWork by Grimsby InstituteWork by Victoria and Albert MuseumWork by Victoria and Albert MuseumWork by Victoria and Albert MuseumWork by University of the Arts LondonWork by Cleveland College of Art & DesignWork by Cleveland College of Art & DesignWork by Cleveland College of Art & DesignWork by Cranford Community CollegeWork by Cranford Community CollegeWork by Hull School of Art and DesignWork by Hull School of Art and DesignWork by Hull School of Art and DesignWork by Hull School of Art and DesignWork by University for the Creative Arts RochesterWork by University for the Creative Arts RochesterWork by University for the Creative Arts FarnhamRobots made by University of Westminster National Science & Engineering ClubWork by Kingston University London National Science and Engineering ClubWork by Ravensbourne Science & Engineering Club

Here are some links to previous posts I have written about NatSatClub: